No player had a more interesting offseason than Foster, who can’t practice because he’s still rehabilitating the calf injury he suffered on the first day of organized team activities.

After rushing for 1,424 yards, scoring an NFL-best 17 touchdowns and helping the Texans finish 12-4 and win a playoff game, Foster landed roles in a popular CBS television series and a Kevin Costner-starring film that’s going to get a lot of attention in 2014.

While he was in Hawaii at the Pro Bowl, Foster played a football player who punches out a bad guy on “Hawaii 5-0.”

Then, Foster earned a role in the Ivan Reitman-directed “Draft Day.” Costner is the Cleveland Browns’ general manager. Denis Leary is their head coach, and Jennifer Garner is their cap specialist.

The producers who selected Foster’s audition tape and presented it to Reitman had no idea Foster was a star in the NFL.

“The director liked my audition tape,” Foster said Saturday. “He asked me to do another thing, and he liked it again. They offered me a part in the movie, and I thought it would be a fun thing to be part of.”

To look like Ray Jennings, a college running back who gets to go to the draft in New York because he’s going to be a first-round pick, Foster had to shave his beard.

“They didn’t like my baby face with a beard,” he said, smiling. “It was a humbling experience. You get a chance to sit there and chop it up with Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner.

“They have respect for what you do, so you don’t want to go into their territory and disrespect what they do. I tried to be as prepared as possible.”

Costner, a sports fanatic, has starred in “Bull Durham,” “Field of Dreams,” “For Love of the Game” and “Tin Cup.”

“He’s a good guy,” Foster said. “He came up to me at first. I didn’t want to bother him while he was working, so I just sat in a corner by myself. He came up and started talking to me, and it was fun.

Those on the movie’s set said Foster is a natural as an actor and could have a future in Hollywood. He doesn’t plan to quit his day job, at least not anytime soon.
“My first obligation is to play football,” Foster said. “Nothing’s going to get in the way of that. If opportunities come up, though, I might.”

Foster laughed when he was asked about the difference in playing roles in “Hawaii 5-0” and “Draft Day.”

“It was more fun because I wasn’t playing me,” he said about “Draft Day.” “I was playing somebody else, so it was actual acting.”

“Draft Day” spent a day in New York filming during the NFL draft. When Foster stepped out of his SUV and onto the red carpet while filming, fans lining the carpet cheered. Some hesitated because they recognized him.

Then they were told Foster was playing Ray Jennings. He signed some autographs on camera as Jennings.

Inside Radio City Music Hall, when Foster heard his name called, he got to walk across the stage and hug commissioner Roger Goodell.

During a break, Foster went over to his manager and said, “It took me five years, but I finally got here.”

So far, Foster hasn’t hired a Hollywood agent. He also hasn’t taken acting lessons.